SANDPOINT, Idaho, May 5, 2015 /MobilityWire/ — Kochava (www.kochava.com), today announced new fraud detection and prevention capabilities in support of its global customer base. As mobile advertising traffic increases in volume over display advertising, fraud has become an increasingly costly issue for advertisers. Kochava’s dedicated data science division has developed processes to identify fraudulent activity to avoid wasted campaign budget and the skewing of user acquisition data that can come from fraudulent reporting.

Kochava has analyzed several years of its customers’ mobile ad traffic around the globe to determine what to look for when identifying fraud in mobile advertising. Kochava defines fraud as any traffic that is being presented as one thing – but is delivered as another. Activities that could be construed as fraudulent are dependent upon the ad network and the individual customer attribution configuration.

According to recent Google research, a frightening 56.1 percent of all ad impressions are not seen by human consumers. Furthermore, it is estimated that advertisers could lose more than $6 billion globally to ad fraud in 2015, according to a study conducted by the Association of National Advertisers and White Ops Inc. With such dramatic numbers, the importance of fraud prevention is at an all-time high.

“Today, fraud in mobile advertising is real, and it’s not only costing app marketers billions of dollars in wasted campaign spend, it’s also driving faulty campaign performance results,” said Charles Manning, Kochava CEO. “The problem is further compounded as this misleading data is then used by our customers to make their optimization decisions. Identifying and helping to eliminate this fraudulent traffic saves our customers money, and enhances their campaign optimization capabilities at the same time.”

Common fraud attempts in mobile advertising that can be detected by Kochava’s data science team include the practice of blending incentivized traffic with non-incentivized traffic, “sniping” clicks, or the use of human or programmatic bots. There are specific indicators Kochava’s data science team knows to look for in each of these incidents of fraud. Part of the value of the Kochava data science team is its ability to interpret customer data on the customer’s behalf and then present it to them via their dedicated Kochava account manager who knows their specific business and campaigns personally.

“Many advertisers don’t understand the nuanced elements of how each ad network works. It’s up to Kochava as the measurement platform to know, and to do something with this knowledge to protect our customers ,” said Manning. “When it comes to fraud, Kochava knows what to look for so our customers don’t have to. This data then becomes a secret weapon, arming advertisers with more data than the publishers have. Kochava’s data science team is effectively protecting our customers from fraud while sending a message to the networks that fraud will not go undiscovered.”

Kochava also announced this week that TMC, a global media company, has named the Kochava mobile app attribution platform a 2015 Mobility Tech Zone Product of the Year. The Mobility Tech Zone Product of the Year Award honors the development of technologies geared toward the evolution of a 4G, all IP, wireless network.

“Recognizing leaders in mobile technologies, TMC is proud to announce Kochava as a recipient of the 2015 Mobility Tech Zone Product of the Year Award,” said Rich Tehrani, TMC CEO. “Kochava has demonstrated incredible innovation that is helping to shape the face of the quickly evolving mobile advertising industry. It is our pleasure to honor Kochava for its inspiring and innovative work.”

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About Kochava
Kochava offers a unique, holistic and unbiased approach to mobile attribution analytics and optimization. Via its platform, Kochava provides mobile advertisers with precise real-time visualization of campaign data that spans from initial launch through conversion and lifetime value (LTV) reporting, including comprehensive post-install event tracking. Kochava’s tools enable customers to turn their data into actionable information. With over 1,000 publisher and network integrations including Facebook, Twitter, Google and Pandora, Kochava is trusted globally by the largest brands in mobile gaming, commerce, news and media. For more information visit www.kochava.com.